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DIALV3-savage-frontispiece

The wood-engraved image is set into a square, ruled border, printed, as is the image, in dark green ink. The image depicts an imaginary scene by a grotto and waterfall, where centaurs of various ages and sexes go about their daily life. The viewing position is somewhat above, looking down. The left half of the picture shows a crude home for the centaurs and the right half of the picture shows the landscape in which they live. In the centre foreground, a female centaur stands with her back to the viewer; she appears about to enter the wooden building. She has long hair and wears a vine-like headdress that extends down her body, entangling her tail and hind legs. She stands in front of the open doorway, holding a wooden doorframe in front of her to the right. Her shadowed face is in profile. In the interior of the building, in the extreme left, is a female centaur suckling an infant centaur while another child centaur leans on several urns. Between these centaurs and the centaur wearing the headdress is a large round urn resting on a stool. Behind the urn a tree that appears to be a supporting beam for the building extends up to the top of the frame, with branches that span to the left and right. In front of the urn is a grassy sward, extending to the right half of the image. In the right foreground four male centaurs engage in wrestling in front of a pool, where other centaurs are swimming, one of which is holding an archer’s bow. Behind the pool, a waterfall is depicted. A female centaur rests against a wall structure observing the wrestling. In the grassy ground are a few small seashells. Two flowers are beside the grass on the left side of the frame.